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Hilton Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel Review: Hilton Bentley Miami/South Beach

Hilton Bentley Miami/South Beach 101 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, Florida, 33139, USA Hilton Bentley Miami Beach is located in South Beach neighborhood about 11 miles from Miami International Airport. It is a short 5 minute walk from South Pointe Park Pier from where you can see the cruise ships departing Miami. We arrived on an early morning flight and the front desk agent notified us that the room wasn’t ready but we could leave our luggage in storage and explore the property and avail pool and beach amenities. We got our room about 3 hours later which was understandable because …

Airline Reviews Lufthansa Reviews

Airline Review: Lufthansa – Business Class (Airbus 350-900 with Lie Flat Seats) : Munich – Los Angeles (LH 452)

Flight:  Lufthansa LH 452 from Munich to Los Angeles Duration: 11 hours 30 minutes Equipment: A359 (Airbus 350-900) Class: Business Seat: 1 D & 1G (Middle row bulkhead seats with direct aisle access) Seat Specification: True Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 64 “, Seat width: 20 ” Lufthansa Business class on Airbus 350-900 consists of 8 rows of 2 x 2 x 2 seats with 6 rows in main Business cabin and 2 rows in rear cabin. Lufthansa Business product definitely lags behind the times with its 2x2x2 configuration while the rest of the industry moves towards business class having all seats …

Hotel Reviews Independent Reviews

Hotel Review: Hotel Fanis, Naxos, Greece

Hotel Fanis, Naxos Agia Anna Beach, Naxos Island, Cyclades, Greece For our 2 night stay in Naxos, we chose Hotel Fanis by Agia Anna Beach. The hotel is right across from the beach. We arrived at the Naxos port from Santorini in the afternoon. The hotel provides complimentary pickup and drop-off service from the airport and Naxos port. The hotel manager (Katerina) and her husband were at the port to pick us up in their van. We got Room #1 which faces the Agia Anna Beach. When we opened the doors to the patio, you could hear the waves from …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

May 2021: Naxos, Greece Trip Report

Day 1: We arrived at Santorini Athinios port (new port) for our SeaJets ferry to Naxos. The ferry ride takes about 3 hours from Santorini to Naxos (depending on which ferry boat you choose). We arrived at Naxos port early afternoon. We were staying at Fanis Hotel close to Agia Anna Beach. The hotel provided complimentary shuttle service to hotel. After freshening up we walked to Lefto’s Souvlaki Kebab House at Agios Prokopios Beach for lunch After lunch, we went to Agia Anna Beach right across from Fanis hotel. The water was still very cold so we shifted to the …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

May 2021: Santorini, Greece Trip Report

Day 1: We arrived at Santorini (Thira) International Airport early afternoon. After picking up our rental car we drove to our hotel (Avant Garde Suites) in Akrotiri. After freshening up we decided to have lunch near Kamari Beach. Greece had just reopened post-covid and many places in Santorini were still closed (or work being done for reopening). We were lucky to find Soul By Splash restaurant open, right on Kamari Beach. It was amazing having wonderful food while hearing waves a few feet away. After lunch, we walked along Kamari Beach but the very cold water along with rough pebbles …

Hotel Reviews Independent Reviews

Hotel Review: Avant Garde Suites, Santorini

Avant Garde Suites, Santorini Akrotiri [Caldera], Thira 847 00, Greece Avant Garde Suites is located in the quiet town of Akrotiri on south-west part of Santorini. Most tourists who want the caldera view in Santorini usually go for towns like Oia and Fira. We found this hotel on Booking.com and after visiting the hotel’s website we fell in love with it. The hotel is located about 11 km from Santorini Airport which didn’t take long as we were renting a car for our stay in Santorini. We were the very first and only guests during our stay since reopening of …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel Review: New Hotel, Athens

New Hotel, Athens 16 Filellinon Street, Syntagma, Athens 10557 Greece New Hotel, Athens (a member of Design Hotels™) is located in the heart of Athens within 5 minute walking distance from Syntagma Square.  The hotel has convenient access to the Athens International airport (Eleftherios Venizelos) via Bus (X95) or Athens Metro Line 3 from Syntagma Square. This hotel is a part of the Marriott program and costs 35,000 points/night for an award night stay. We stayed here for 2 nights at the beginning of our Greece trip and 1 night at the end. The best feature of the hotel is …

Destination Trip Reports Europe

May 2021: Athens, Greece Trip Report

Day 1: We arrived at Athens International Airport (Eleftherios Venizelos) in the afternoon on our flight from London. After a rapid covid-19 swab test at the airport, we were on our way. Athens Metro Line 3 serves the airport and we took the metro  to Syntagma Square (9 Euro/person). Our hotel (New Hotel, Athens) was only 5 minutes walk from Syntagma metro stop. After freshening up, we decided to pick up our combo Acropolis tickets ($30 Euro for 8 sites over 5 days) from Gymnasium of Lykeion. We walked from our hotel to the National Garden. We walked through the …

Airline Reviews British Airways Reviews

Airline Review: British Airways – Business Class (Boeing 787-800 with Lie Flat Seats) : London – Athens (BA 626)

Flight:  British Airways BA 626 from London Heathrow to Athens Duration: 3 hours 50 minutes Equipment: B788 (Boeing 787-800) Class: Business Seat: 1 D & 1E (1D is forward facing & 1E is rear facing both with direct aisle access) Seat Specification: True Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 75 “. Seat width: 20” Normally British Airways Boeing 787-800 aircrafts service long haul destinations.  But due to Covid and full reopening not happening at the time, we lucked out and got it on our short flight from London to Athens. British Airways Boeing 787 has 2 business class cabins, with 3  and 2 …

Airline Reviews American Reviews

Airline Review: American Airlines – Business Class (Boeing 777-300 with Lie Flat Seats) : Dallas – London (AA 50)

Flight:  American Airlines AA 50 from Dallas to London Heathrow Duration: 9 hours 20 minutes Equipment: B777 (Boeing 777-300) Class: Business Seat: 6 D & 6G (Middle row seats with direct aisle access) Seat Specification: True Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 43 “. Seat width: 20.5 ” American Airlines Boeing 777-300 between Dallas to London has 13 rows of Business Class (1 x 2 x 1 configuration) with 2 rows in a forward cabin and remaining in the main cabin. The starter of latin shaved beef with lemon aoli was sub par (mixed reviews as Karen apparently liked it) and salted caramel …

Trip Summary

May 2021: Greece Trip – Introduction

It had been a long time (since Jan 2020) I’ve been on a vacation. Ever since Covid crisis started, we were staying home hoping for it to all blow over. After we got vaccinated in Feb 2020, it gave us the chance to go on our already postponed Greece trip in May 2021. Greece finally opened up to international tourists at end of April and the requirements were fairly simple. For vaccinated tourists, a proof of vaccination was sufficient for entry along with a passenger locator form specifically for Greece that had to be filled out no later than day …

Airline Reviews Korean Air Reviews

Airline Review: Korean Air – Business Class (Airbus 380-800 with Lie Flat Seats): Seoul – Los Angeles (KE 11)

Flight:  Korean Air KE 11 from Seoul to Los Angeles Duration: 11 hours Aircraft: A388(Airbus 380-800) Class: Business (Prestige Class) Seat: 20D (Middle row bulhead seat with direct aisle access in rear cabin) Seat Specification: Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 74 “. Seat width: 21.6 ” Korean Air operates both Airbus 380 and Boeing 777-300ER on Seoul – Los Angeles long-haul route. My flight was operated on a double-decker A380 with 2 x 2 x 2 configuration in business class throughout the upper deck. There are 3 cabins on the upper deck, all business class and I was in the rear …

Airline Reviews Korean Air Reviews

Airline Review: Korean Air – Business Class (Boeing 777-300ER with Lie Flat Seats): Bangkok – Seoul (KE 660)

Flight:  Korean Air KE 660  from Bangkok to Seoul Duration: 5 hours 45 minutes Aircraft: B773(Boeing 777-300ER) Class: Business Seat: 8B (side Aisle seat in forward cabin) Seat Specification: True Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 74″. Seat width: 20.6 ” Korean Air flies both A380 as well as Boeing 777-300 widebody on Bangkok – Seoul route. This was my first time flying Korean Air Business and over 2 segments I got to try business class on both type of aircraft.  The flight form Bangkok – Seoul was on a Boeing 777-300ER with 2 x 2 x 2 configuration for a total of 56 …

Asia Destination Trip Reports

December 2019: Kandy and Colombo, Sri Lanka Trip Report

Earlier part of the Sri Lanka Trip involves sightseeing in Bentota, Weligama, Ella and Nuwara Eliya. Day 5: We left Nuwara Eliya after having breakfast at our hotel. After 30 minutes of driving towards Kandy, we arrived at Damro Labookellie Tea Centre and Tea garden. The tea factory here is actually running and the management offers complimentary 15 minute guided tour around the factory. We learned about various stages of processing of tea as well as about different varieties of tea. Finally we were treated with a variety of fine Ceylon tea. We ended up buying a good amount of …

Asia Destination Trip Reports

December 2019: Bentota, Weligama Bay and Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka Trip Report

Day 1: We arrived at Bandaranaike International Airport late afternoon and after clearing immigration we met with our driver Nishanta from Ceylon Escapes in the arrival hall. Our first night stay was at Bentota, about 110 km from the airport. We reached Bentota in about 2 hours and checked into our homestay at Shangri-Lanka Villa. We were fairly tired after traveling since the morning that day and went to bed early Day 2: We left after having breakfast and made our way south. First up was Bentota Beach. The beach was very clean and the water quite warm for December. …

Hilton Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel Review: Hilton Colombo Residences, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Hilton Colombo Residences 200 Union Pl, Colombo 00200, Sri Lanka Hilton Colombo Residences is one of the 2 Hilton properties in Sri Lanka (as of now). Located about 30 minutes from Colombo International Airport, this hotel has huge rooms that are more like serviced apartments. I had booked a 2 bedroom suite for 1 night with 40,000 Hilton points. Check-in was quick and I was upgraded to a huge 3 bedroom – 2 bath suite. The front desk agent also handed me 3 welcome drink vouchers. We were happy to see some nice pastries and a wine bottle as welcome …

Hotel Reviews Independent Reviews

Hotel Review: Earl’s Regent Hotel, Kandy, Sri Lanka

Earl’s Regent Hotel, Kandy 40/1 Deveni Rajasinghe Mawatha, Kandy, Sri Lanka Earl’s  Regent Hotel is located by Mahaweli river in the outskirts of city of Kandy. Located away from the hustle and bustle of Kandy, this hotel is ideal for tourists seeking calm and quiet surroundings with great views. Check-in was fairly quick and I was glad to find out that the hotel provided complimentary accommodation for drivers. I had booked half-board rate (includes dinner & breakfast). However, we arrived late afternoon and were hungry so went for lunch at the on-property restaurant named The Flavors. The pricing was reasonable …

Hotel Reviews Independent Reviews

Hotel Review: Ruvidee Villa, Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

Ruvidee Villa No. 3/6 Glenfall Rd, Nuwara Eliya 22200, Sri Lanka Ruvidee Villa is a small hotel located close to Grand Hotel in the center of Nuwara Eliya. I was quite late in searching for hotels in Nuwara Eliya and by the time I was looking to book a lot of the options were either gone or charging high prices. I basically booked this hotel mainly for the price. The room was quite small and there was not much space to move around. The bathroom was very cold during our stay. The hotel did not provide any toiletries. The hotel …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel Review – Weligama Bay Marriott Resort & Spa, Sri Lanka

Weligama Bay Marriott Resort & Spa 700 Matara Road, Pelana, Weligama 81700 Sri Lanka Marriott Weligama Resort & Spa is a Category 3 (Off-peak 15,000 Marriott rewards points/night) property located in south-western part of Sri Lanka in Weligama Bay. The property is located right on the beach known for surfing and other water activities. Check-in was fairly quick and while I was being checked in, front desk manager Bhagyashree came by and introduced herself and notified me that although our room was not ready yet, if we were willing to wait for 30 minutes, she would have an amazing room …

Hotel Reviews Independent Reviews

Hotel Review – Shangri-Lanka Villa, Bentota, Sri Lanka

Shangri-Lanka Villa #23, De Alwis Road, Horanduwa, Bentota – 80500, Sri Lanka Shangri-Lanka Villa is a very highly rated home-stay property located in Bentota, Sri Lanka. Surrounded by lush greenery, this property highlights individual villas and a swimming pool. I loved the bathroom the most in this property. The water pressure was really good and was nice to take a shower after all the travel. I had booked at a rate that included breakfast and the caretaker took our order the night before. We opted for Western Breakfast instead of traditional Sri Lankan breakfast. Thumbs up: Room had 3 beds …